


Emifal Firdaant

by CassieReinesBooks



Category: An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:07:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28042161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassieReinesBooks/pseuds/CassieReinesBooks
Summary: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED A SKY BEYOND THE STORM. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENDINGThis piece is heavily inspired by a piece of fanart by pumpkin._.pwee on Instagram.Harper deserved a better ending than what Sabaa gave him. So this is my version of how it should have been handled.
Relationships: Helene Aquilla/Avitas Harper
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	Emifal Firdaant

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if the formatting is weird. This is my first time posting here.

Harper’s scim was an extension of his arm. Soldier after soldier fell to his blade, blood splattered his armor and he was drenched in sweat, but he kept on swinging. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of silver. He knew she told him to stay away, but he just couldn’t bring himself to listen to her order. He was her second, and he loved her, there was no way he was going to let her face the Bitch of Blackcliff without backup nearby. A soldier rushed him, and he shoved his scim into his attacker’s throat and barely had time to leap back to avoid the swing of a club. The new attacker swung again, and Harper had to put all his focus on making sure he wasn’t clubbed to death. 

When he finally took down the man with the club, he turned to scan the battlefield for a familiar flash of blonde hair, and his heart stopped the sight before him. Keris had forced Helene to drop her scim and had shoved a blade into a crack in Helene’s armor. Helene grimaced, but she wasn't done fighting. She was never done fighting. _Loyal to the end_ , she always says. His heart pounding, he sprinted towards his love. She might be willing to die for the empire, but he wasn’t willing to let her die on his watch. 

He emerged from the fray only to watch as Helene’s last blade slips from her grasp, leaving her defenseless. Without thinking, Harper reached for his remaining daggers. “Shrike!” He bellowed and threw the first dagger. He barely noticed how Keris caught it as he hurled the second one. Helene catches this one, but instead of looking triumphant, he watches as her face fills with terror. Then, blinding pain in his chest. He glanced down to find the first dagger lodged into his chest. _It’s fine_ , he thought to himself. _It’s only a flesh wound, and you’ve been through worse_. Then a second flash of steel and another dagger finishes the job of the first. Harper staggered and fell to the ground. He blinked, not believing what happened. _A strike to the heart_ , he thought. _How fitting_. He knew loving the Blood Shrike would place his heart in danger, but he never thought it would be like this. He had hoped for a long life with Helene, but now that future was just out of his grasp. 

Dimly he noticed that Helene was at his side. “No, no, no, no, no, no. Harper stay with me!” 

He struggled to meet her gaze, not wanting to see what was there. His Helene, who refused to show emotions so that her enemies couldn’t use them against her, now had tears in her eyes. He reached up to touch her face. “Helene, I--” 

“No! Don’t you dare leave me, not after all this time. That’s an order” 

He tried to laugh but only ended up coughing blood. “I’m sorry Shrike, but I don’t think I can carry this one out.” 

“Shut up! I--I can heal you!” She let out a few notes, and Harper could feel his body respond to the song, but it wasn’t enough. No song could heal him.

“Helene,” he whispered. She whimpered as the tears started to fall. As he felt himself fading, he remembered last night. He knew something had been bothering her, but he had decided to ignore it because he was so happy she had finally opened herself to love. “ _Emifal firdaant_ ,” she had told him, and these were the words he told her now. 

“ _Emifal firdannt_ , Shirke. Did you really think I would let death claim you first?” There was so much more he wanted to say, but then the darkness took him. He didn’t want to leave as he felt her agony, but he knew, in the end, she would use that agony to win the war, and with that knowledge, he left this world. 

************

Duty had kept her distracted up until now, but with nothing else to do, Helene faced what she had been avoiding all day. Dragging her feet, she headed towards the dead. Some of the bodies she recognized, some she didn’t. She paused as she passed Darin. She recalled his fierce determination to protect his sister, and with a pang, Helene realized she would miss the Scholar. After a moment, she moved on towards the end of the line, and there he was. The man she loved. It appeared that someone had taken the time to clean up his face and covered up his chest to hide his wound. It almost looked like he was sleeping, but as she sang a few notes of his song, she felt no life to heal. Despair took her then, and she fell to her knees. They had so little time together, and it was all because she had been too proud to let him in. She knew that Harper knew, but now she would never get to say “I love you.” She would never get to see his familiar smirk or hear him say Helene or Shrike again. All she would have is _emifal firdaant_. Her nails dug into her arms as she let herself sob. Eventually, she would have to get up and continue her duty to the empire, but for now, she deserved to grieve over the man she loved. 

*************

For weeks, Harper got to know him. Not the shell that was the Soul Catcher, but Elias, his brother. They talked about their time at Blackcliff, Helene, the war. Elias told him of his childhood and growing up with the Tribes, and Harper realized how much he had missed. He wished things could have been different and that he had the chance to be a brother, but wishes do ghosts no good. Then Elias told him about his meeting with their father during the final battle, and Harper could no longer ignore the pull on his soul. 

“Elias,” he finally said one day. Elias turned, a smile on his face, and it broke Harper’s heart that he would have to leave it behind. “It’s time. I have stayed this long because of you. I wanted to get to know you, but you have also been keeping me here.”

“I haven’t--” Elias started. 

“You have though. You didn’t realize it, but you have been exerting your will as soul catcher to keep me here. While I loved our time together and getting to know the _real_ you, I was ready a long time ago. Our father calls out to me Elias, and I want to join him.” 

Elias nodded solemnly, falling back into his duty as soul catcher. He gestured towards the path that appeared. “Shall we?” Together the two brothers walked the path. They didn’t speak for they had said all they could. They just enjoyed each other’s company one last time. 

When they reached the River Dusk, Elias turned to Harper and placed his hand on Harper’s shoulder. “Thank you for this time. Thank you for letting me get to know you. We may have not had the chance in life, but I am grateful for these past few weeks.” 

“As am I. The only thing I ask of you in return is to deliver a message.” 

“A message?” 

Harper nodded. “Please tell the Blood Shrike,” he paused. “Helene. Tell her I wait for her.” 

“I will brother.” 

Harper sighed, feeling light as the last of his ties were unraveled. Turning away from Elias, he faced the River Dusk, and with a leap, he hurtled towards its rushing waters. Towards home. 

*************

Helene knew her time was near. She had lived a full life, and she was ready to leave it behind. She had long ago resigned from her role as empress. The people had protested at first because she was the Imperator Invictus. She had helped win the war against the jinn and then rebuilt the empire so that everything they fought for was not in vain. It took some time, but eventually, everyone accepted the Scholars and the Empire thrived. They established a new treaty with the Tribes so that they were better protected; Scholar’s flooded the schools, and with the help of a certain _Kehanni_ , recorded the history we had forgotten; trade with Marinn thrived due to a very knowledgeable diplomat. Helene had fought for her empire and was proud of how she shaped it, but eventually, she had to step down. Her empire didn’t need a war veteran as their leader anymore, but someone who had grown up in the new world. Zak was a fair emperor and loved his empire almost as much as his aunt. Some days she could not believe the man he had grown into, no matter how old he got, she always saw him as that little baby she held in her arms in the midst of war. 

Now, she sent someone to bring him to her chambers. It was time for goodbyes. Laia and Musa had passed on years ago, and while Elias still remained, she never saw much of him after Laia left. He still checked in on her from time to time, but he always seemed adrift without Laia to ground him. Helene had her suspicions as to where Elias spent his time, and so she did not send for him, only waiting for Zak since she would see her oldest friend afterward. 

She heard a commotion in the hallway, and a few seconds later, Zak entered the room. “Auntie Shrike, are you okay?” He rushed to her bedside, and she smiled up at him. He looked so much like Marcus, but everything else was all Livvy. 

She reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand. “Your mother would be so proud of the man you have become. I am proud.”

Tears were freely flowing between the two now. “Is this goodbye, Auntie?” Helene nodded, and Zak threw himself at her and held her tight. “I love you, Auntie Shrike.” 

“I love you too, Zak,” Helene whispered back. 

After that, they didn’t speak. Only held unto each other until Zak had to go back to his duties as emperor. Helene watched as he stood up, and with one final wave goodbye, he shut the door. Then she took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her city one last time before she closed her eyes and slept. 

**************

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a place she hadn’t been in many years. It was quiet with only the sound of the wind and whispers of ghosts in the Waiting Place. It was so different from the last time she was here. It was peaceful, but Helene couldn’t help but remember the sounds of scims clashing, the smell of salt and fire in the air, and her helplessness as she couldn’t save everyone. In the quiet of the forest, it almost seemed like the things that haunted her nightmares didn’t happen. 

“But they did happen. You may not be able to see it here, but the Waiting Place still bears the scars of the war, and then there are those who survived that bear deeper scars.” Helene turned towards the voice and found Elias Veturius standing before her. “Welcome to the Waiting Place, Helene Aquilla.” 

Helene smiled, “It’s good to see you, Elias.” 

“It is good to see you as well, although I am a little perplexed. Shall we take a walk?” He offered her a small smile and gestured towards the path between the trees. 

“We shall.” 

Together they walked the path, and after a few minutes, Elias broke the silence. “I was a little surprised when Mauth informed me that you had arrived in the Waiting Place. To me, it seemed that you were always pretty satisfied with your life and wouldn’t have any lingering attachments.” 

“I was satisfied with my life, but did you really think that I wouldn’t say goodbye to my best friend before leaving this world?” She nudged his shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. 

“I’m glad I’m worthy of being on your goodbye list, Imperator Invictus.” 

“Yes, well I needed to check up on you one last time too. How are you doing, Elias?” 

He sighed. “It’s not what you think, Helene. Mauth no longer takes away my emotions. When he let me go after the war, he said that I would always have a place here and when Laia died… I needed something to do, I needed to stay--”

“Sane?” 

“Yes. Coming back here gave me purpose and allowed me to process Laia’s death. It felt good to come here and do something to help after I couldn’t do anything for her in the end.” 

“Elias,” she reached out to comfort him, but her hand only passed through his arm. 

“I’m okay as I can be, Helene. I never planned on staying here forever, and now that you’re here, I think my time is close.” He paused. “But checking up on me wasn’t your only intent in coming here, was it? You already knew I was here.” 

She nodded. “I had my suspicions, and while I did want to see you for myself, I did come here for another reason.” They were nearing the end of the path now, and she could hear the rush of water ahead. “I wanted to ask about him.” 

Elias’ eyes lit up as he realized what she meant. “I did not lie to you all those years ago when I said he would be waiting for you.” 

“I know that, but how do you know?” 

Elias gave her a soft smile. “I do not know for sure, but I have to believe that they are in a better place. I do not sense anything wrong like before, but I cannot sense anything past that. I do not know what is beyond the river, but Harper is a patient, if not stubborn man. He is waiting for you, Helene.” 

They had finally reached the river’s shore. Helene stared into its depths, and she could feel the tug of home at her core. She felt Livvy, Hannah, Mother, Father, all her fellow soldiers and friends, Laia, and then stronger than everyone else, Harper. They were calling her home. 

“Go Helene, you deserve happiness,” Elias said from behind her. 

Then without looking back, Helene was finally welcomed home. 

***************

At first, it was only light and then… A voice. “Helene?” 

She opened her eyes and there he was. He looked exactly like she remembered him. Tall, bright green eyes, and his black curls resting atop his head. But unlike her memories, he was real. He stood there staring at her in wonder as tears rolled down his cheeks, and Helene was not surprised to find tears on her own as well. 

“ _Emifal firdaant_ ,” he finally said, and with that, Helene rushed towards him. She threw her arms around him, and let herself sink into his warm embrace. After all these years of dreams and memories, she had finally found her way back to him. 

“You waited,” she whispered into his chest. 

His arms shifted as he cupped her chin to look up at him. “Of course, I did. I--” 

“I love you!” she blurted. “I know I didn’t say it before, but I--I love you. I had loved you for a long time even before I let myself open up to you, and I’m so sorry.” 

“Shh,” Harper said as he pulled her close. “I know, my love. I know. I love you too.” Something broke inside her as he said those words. She had always worried that she would never be reunited with him or over the years, death had turned him bitter, but to hear the words she held so close to her heart, broke the last pieces of the wall she had built around herself. She sobbed into Harper’s chest as he held her tightly and whispered “I know, my love” into her hair. 

When she stopped crying, she pulled away and met Harper’s gaze. “No more ‘may death take me first.’ If anything happens, we go together.” 

“Together, my love,” he agreed. Then he leaned down and kissed her with the promise of an eternity of kisses.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about you, but Harper is one of my favorite characters, and I am very angry about Harper's ending. HE DESERVED BETTER. While I do think Helene should have been able to heal him, in this fic, I decided to stick with the ending Sabaa gave us, but tweak it a little. *cough* Completely erasing the romantic undertones between Musa and Helene because there is no way she would have moved on that fast and is very out of character for Musa who spent so much time trying to get Helene and Harper together. *cough* I added a Harper POV because we were ROBBED of that in Sky. And then finally, I made it so that Harper and Elias were given the chance to connect because they deserved more than one conversation. 
> 
> Maybe I'll write a different fic where Harper lives, maybe I won't. I have to put myself through Sky again if I want to do that and I am definitely not ready to go through Sky again. Enjoy this for now.


End file.
